• Published 25th Sep 2012
  • 2,437 Views, 21 Comments

Forward Motion - totallynotabrony



A mysterious visitor shows up in Ponyville for the annual Running of the Leaves. Rainbow and AJ try to figure out what makes him so fast.

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author notes

Time to talk about the insane detail I put into things most people probably didn't notice. While this story is about friendship, bettering yourself, and not taking things too seriously, I've also included references to old-school racing. Vector is a loose tribute to the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird NASCAR competitors.


History:

The Daytonas and Superbirds were Chrysler Corp's entry into NASCAR's early aerodynamics wars. The 1968 Dodge Charger looked great, but had terrible drag. Meanwhile, the Ford Torino's styling was much slicker. Chevrolet, on the other hand, quietly exited NASCAR for a few years and would not win another race until 1972.

To gain an aerodynamic advantage, Chrysler's racing department sat down with their missile department (yes, Chrysler used to have a missile department) and designed some pieces that could be adapted to the Charger. The result was the Daytona. Plymouth, another Chrysler division, did the same treatment to their Road Runner, creating the Superbird. The two cars certainly looked strange, but they were effective.

Technolgy:

The nosecones and tall wings on the Daytonas and Superbirds weren't designed to be pretty, they were designed to work. In fact, the cars had a drag coeffient of just 0.28 - about the same as a modern Corvette! On top of that, the nose and wing developed about 1200 total pounds of downforce, holding the car to the track and improving handling. The wing trick Vector uses is a reference to this. In race form, the cars were typically powered by the Chrysler 426 Hemi. That's a whole story in itself.

Legacy:

On March 24, 1970, Buddy Baker drove his Daytona to an average lap of 200.447 mph at Talledega Superspeedway. It was an important record, because until that time no car had ever reached an average of 200 mph on a closed course. Not Indy cars, not Formula one. Good 'ol American muscle was the first.

Unofficially, at Chrysler's 5-mile Chelsea proving grounds, the cars had run to a top speed of more than 240 mph. Those laps were kept secret. If NASCAR found out, they probably would have banned the cars completly. As it was, the Daytonas, Superbirds, and their Ford and Mercury aero-car competition were forced to run smaller engines during the 1971 racing season. Only one Daytona-driving team opted to do so, instead of using a car with worse aerodynamics. They finished a respectable seventh in the high-speed Daytona 500 race, but it was to be the last battle of the aero war. All the cars involved had been regulated out of competition.

As an interesting side note, the #71 Daytona driven by Bobby Issac won 11 races and the 1970 NASCAR championship, along the way breaking Buddy Baker's lap record. In the off season, the team went to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set 28 USAC speed records, some of which still stand today. The "216.945" on the sign in the picture above is the car's speed in the flying mile. When they got done with all that, they put Isaac's Daytona on display with a sign that said "world's fastest car." Nobody argued.

Pony:

I could think of no better color scheme for a racecar-inspired pony than Petty Blue and STP Orange. Vector's cutie mark is a reference to several things. Vectors, obviously, but also vaguely of a gear shifting pattern in a manual transmission. I came up with it after seeing the white and black arrows used in the logo of Mopar's old Direct Connection department, the place where they sold their racing parts.

His time of 47.88 seconds at the Sweet Apple Acres track is also the number of seconds it takes to run a 200 mph lap at Talledega.

The pony picture above was based on General Zoi's Pony Creator, but I modified several things. That snout, mane, and tail are not things you will find in the Creator. The wings were also modified to better accomodate the cutie mark.

Okay, time to go obsess about something else now. Thanks for reading.

Comments ( 15 )

Hmmmm, didn't I see this before? Well, I guess I'll find out

Allonsy!!!!!

This could be interesting...
Also, INB4FEATURED.

Now if this was a different author, I'd see the description and then run, but not before writing it off as some crappy OC fic.
With you, though?
Could be interesting.

What is this? Was I reading something of yours? *looks back over tab* Ah. Troublemaker. okay then.

Well well well I must now read and feedback

Okay I read it. Can't wait for the race... or is there going to be a race... *checks TOC* nope... interesting choice for a finish. I loved it

Pretty straight forward. No big surprises.
I don't really feel one way or the other about it, but I can tell it was very well written and thought out. Good job.

I still want to know who won. :twilightoops:
Oh well. :twilightsmile:

Huh, nicely set-up and a moderately quick read. Again liking the sharing of inspiration, and those are the only cars I would ever desire to race on asphalt with. Kinda surprised that Rainbow thought of the cone idea and not that of a suit to bring down drag(or AJ really). Its surprising due to AJ pointing out trying her mane & tail and yet no-one thought to cover the entire body, including head in a flesh/fur-tight hood, in sleek material.
Oh well, twas still a good story!

This is looking really good.

1342153

Ooooh, come oooon... You know it was at least a little funny... :rainbowlaugh:

That was great, thanks! :pinkiesmile:

Short and simple. I'd call it fluff, but fluff is "Luna Eats an Oreo"--this was just a change of pace.

Well done!

Nice story, but it seems like you couldn't make up your mind about Vector. Earlier, he's complaining to Twilight that there's no real competition. Then he's saying he's in the Running of the Leaves to relax. I don't much care for him, honestly. All his remarks about "no real competition" are just plain rude, whether or not the race is serious. I was rooting for him to lose just out of spite.

However, it's a good lesson, and RD and AJ are in-character. Good show. :twilightsmile:

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